Drop Dead Rule

[mtnbama]

Whenever I see drop dead, I always ask for clarification. I've played when it's drop dead, regardless of whether the home team gets the last at bat -- so it's critical to win the toss and be visitors, or hope that the other coach picks home without thinking.

In regards to the post about the timer going off during the play -- I've never heard of stopping the play in the middle of a play -- even in the "droppest deadest" pool game you finish the play -- how much extra time can that take -- 15 seconds?

Many times, even in drop dead, you get to finish the at bat, if you are behind. Note that the implications of that is if your batter makes contact, you never stop them at all -- they just keep running, running, running until someone gets them out.

 

[MTR]

Do not confuse a "drop dead rule" with a time limit.

The DDR is just a game ending procedure. There is a reason it is called "drop dead", just like you were walking along an dropped dead. You don't get a chance to get back up and finish what you were doing, or go back a hour and finish up there. You just expire at that point in time.

It isn't a secret that a DDR stops everything at a certain point and that is what it is. At least, it shouldn't be a secret considering it has been around probabably as long as there have been time limit games. Don't say I particularly care for the format, but like I said, it is what it is.

Nothing you can do about it, it isn't your tournament. Simple solution is if you don't like it, don't play where it is used.

 

[BretMan]

Tinkering with any standard rule in the rule book can create a host of problems. Most often, if you change one rule you will inadvertantly create some conflict with another rule. For instance, when a league or tourney uses the continuous batting order (where you can bat everybody you brought), entire sections of the rule book covering substitutions or courtesy runners become obsolete. Unless the person tinkering with the rules has thought this through, documented how the conflicts will be handled and distributed this information to the participants ahead of time, they have created a recipe for confusion.

Another unintended consequence of changing one standard rule is that it can create situations that simply are not addresed in the rule book. For instance, when playing the game under a time limit, if an extended time out must be taken to deal with an injury, should the clock be stopped? What if you're playing "drop dead" and the buzzer goes off, should any live ball play in progress be allowed to continue to it's conclusion, or does the ball become immediately dead?

Those are good questions, either of which could have a profound effect on the outcome of your game. But, unless the league/tourney officials have taken the time to address these glitches, these are points not covered by any standard rule. The final ruling then becomes based on the whim of the umpires or organizers, which creates more problems. It means that there is a good chance the ruling will not be uniformly enforced in all games. It also means that one team or the other is going to be surprised and unhappy with the unexpected ruling.

To the question raised in the first post: Unless the teams received some confirmation before their game started that a game ending procedure had been adopted otherwise, I would say that you have to revert back to the last inning score if the home team is behind when time runs out. Absent that exemption, I would consider this the same as any other game prematurely ended by darkness or weather. In other words, if it's not specifically addressed in the tournament rules, the default way of handling this should be the same as the standard written game ending procedures in the rule book. And those rules make it clear that if the home team is behind when the game is prematurely ended, the score must revert back to the previous inning.